Mardi Gras Gumbo Dip

Ingredients

1/4 cup unsalted butter

6 green onions, thinly sliced

1 cup thinly sliced celery

1 cup diced bell pepper, preferably a mixture of yellow, red and green

1 garlic clove, minced

1-2 teaspoons Creole seasoning

1/2 pound peeled, large raw shrimp, coarsely chopped*

8 ounces cream cheese, cubed

1 pound peeled and cooked crawfish tails

1 1/2 cups cooked Riceland long-grain rice

3/4 cup thinly sliced pickled okra

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan plus more for topping

splash Tabasco, to taste

Garnish: freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preparation

To cook immediately, preheat oven to 400 degrees. The dip may be frozen before cooking; thaw before cooking.

1. In a large nonstick skillet or a Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat.
2. Add green onions, celery and bell pepper to butter and saute until peppers are tender, 5-6 minutes.
3. Add minced garlic to pepper mixture and stir in Creole seasoning.
4. Add in chopped shrimp; cook stirring occasionally until shrimp just turns pink.
5. Reduce heat to low; add in cream cheese and stir until melted.
6. Remove from heat; stir in crawfish tails, rice, okra and 1/2 cup Parmesan.
7. Spoon into a 2 1/2 - 3 quart casserole that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Top with additional freely grated Parmesan.
8. Bake at 400 degrees 20-30 minutes until bubbly and slightly browned on top.
9. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley. Serve with garlic crostini or garlic bread.

*Any combination of 1 1/2 pounds shrimp or crawfish may be used.

Laissez les bon temps roulez!

_{by The Women Bloggers/Riceland Blogger Debbie Arnold of DiningWithDebbie.net}